Where the focus lies
by Myannah
Summary: Cameron's life gets turned inside out when a kidnapped girl is found in a car accident with her kidnappers.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

A kidnapped ten-year-old girl was found in a car wreck with her two kidnappers. All three passengers killed in the crash. The car was found on a bridge overlooking a beautiful forest valley, obscuring the beauty with it's twisted metal and blood.

The kidnappers were identified as most wanted in connection to human trafficking. They were named by the police as Roman and Gypsy Travlar. Real names unknown, but have been connected to several kidnappings and petty crimes for several years already.

Needing information from them about their connections and whereabouts of the kidnapped children, they were taken to the Stitch lab.

After doing all the necessary checks, Cameron sent Kirsten into the Roman's memories.

"What do you see slick?" He asked Kirsten.

Kirsten stood in the middle of a very large and colorful tent.

"I think I'm in the circus." Kirsten said.

She looked around the tent and saw the kidnapper arguing with someone by the tent door. She walked closer to him and saw who he was talking to.

"A young woman. Early twenties. Beautiful. Dark green eyes. She has blue hair."

They argued in an unknown language and Kirsten tried to understand.

"I think it's Russian. Or something." She tilted her head to the side as if that would make things easier.

"I am trying, you old fart." The young woman said in English. "Just leave us alone for a change."

"Oh, she's wearing a wig," Kirsten commented when the woman ripped the wig off and stomped away. "I wonder if she wears contacts too."

"Who is the woman?" Maggie asked.

"I don't know." Kirsten breathed.

"Okay, moving on." Cameron jumped her to a different memory.

They spent the rest of the stitch trying to find names or places to figure out where they were before the accident. The last memory was of the accident.

"I don't know where they're going. But he's in a hurry. There's three people in the back seat. The kidnapped girl, a little boy and Gypsy."

"Who's in the passenger seat?" Maggie asked. Kirsten tried to see.

"I don't know. A Blonde woman. That's all I know. He knows her though. He's upset with her. I think it might be the girl with the blue hair. He is really focused on the road."

But that ended before they could figure out what had caused the accident.

"I heart Linus," Kirsten said as she typed her way out of the stitch.

"Anything else?" Maggie asked.

"No. But where is the little boy? Where is she? They weren't found in the accident."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2.

"No. They weren't found in the accident." Kirsten argued hours later as she waited to be placed into the woman's memories.

"Maybe that wasn't the accident day?" Camille offered.

"Well, it's the same clothes they're wearing now."

"Maybe they're just so poor that they need to wear the same clothes over and over again." Camille tried again.

"Did you see what car they had the accident in? They are not poor people." Linus had already cried over the smashed up Mustang when they were all briefed earlier.

"Car was stolen." Camille threw back.

"Can I stitch into Gypsy now?" Kirsten broke their attention.

After the annoying checks, Cameron initiated the stitch.

"Okay. I'm in a trailer home." Kirsten described her whereabouts. She looked out the window and saw the circus tent across the grass.

"She's talking with a teenager."

"Mother she is mine." He said to Gypsy.

"He's tall. And has dirty teen boy hair. But he looks… what's the word… pretty. She's proud of him. A little worried too." Kirsten looked around.

"Can you tell where the circus is? What the name is or what they're doing there?" Maggie asked.

"No names or logos. And I can't see any landmarks outside the circus." Kirsten checked out the windows. A girl with brown hair ran towards the mobile home and ran inside.

"I did it! I did it!" she yelled and threw her arms around the boy. "Thomas I did it."

"The boy's name is Thomas." Kirsten informed him.

"I'll do a search." Camille went to work on her pad.

"Now you beat that." The teen girl giggled and kissed him quickly. Gypsy cleared her throat. The girl jumped away from Thomas and looked at Gypsy as if she didn't know that she had been there.

"It's the girl with the blue hair." Kirsten stated.

"How do you know? That must be years ago." Cameron asked.

"The green eyes are hard to miss. She's really pretty."

"Katarzyna, it's not a competition." Gypsy stated. She clearly didn't like the girl.

"Her Name is Kat-arr-zhin-ah."

"How do you spell that?" Camille uttered. But went on searching.

"Jumping you to another memory."

"She's a problem, Hathor." Gypsy whispered in anger.

"Roman's real name is Hathor."

"On it." Camille searched.

Kirsten stood in front of Gypsy and Hathor arguing.

"She's a bad influence on him." Gypsy said.

"He wants her." Hathor countered.

"She's a nightmare. We have to get rid of her." Gypsy continued.

"Thomas won't let you. I'm telling you, leave it alone." Hathor warned. She seemed more annoyed than scared at his warning.

"I think she tried to kill Katarzyna. Another memory please. Take me to the accident. Okay. I'm in the back seat of the car. There's the little boy again and the little girl. Hathor is driving. Katarzyna is in the passenger seat. The little girl in the back seat is crying." Kirsten noticed something strange.

"Time's up, you gotta bounce." Cameron said as Kirsten typed in her passcode.

"Did you see where they were heading?" Maggie asked.

"No. They were driving through the woods. Funny thing though, Katarzyna was tied to the seat. With rope. Her wrists were bleeding as she tried to get free…"


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

"Any hits on their names yet?" Maggie asked Camille.

"None whatsoever." Camille replied.

"Really, nothing? How is that possible?" Kirsten asked. She sunk back into the water, ready to connect to the kidnapped girl.

"Well, they have been running a human trafficking ring for over thirty years without being caught. I'm sure it's understandable."

"Why are you so confused? You're usually like Captain Obvious to the rescue." Cameron wondered.

"I'm tired." Kirsten said with certainty.

"Well then let's go. Let's finish this." Cameron started his check line.

"There aren't that many memories, actually. So this should be easy." Linus stated as he mapped it out.

"And off we go." Cameron sang as he sent Kirsten into the stitch. "Talk to me princess. Last one."

Kirsten opened her eyes but she had to try again. "I think I'm blindfolded." She uttered as she tried again. "No. I'm locked in a small room. Oh. The little girl is here." Kirsten saw the kidnapped girl curled up on the floor.

"Her name is Kelly Durman." Camille interjected.

"Kelly's crying." Kirsten observed. "Someone is talking on the other side of the door. I don't understand them. Wait."

"This isn't right. We should take her back." A woman's voice whispered.

"It is not for us to decide. This is our ways." A male voice replied.

"Come on, Thomas, we can leave. We don't have to stay here. You know that no one likes me anyway."

"Must be Katarzyna." Kirsten said as she looked around. "She's trying to convince Thomas to run away with her. I'm in a closet btw. I can see wigs and costumes."

"We can talk about this later." The man said.

"We should go now."

"I have to go help father. Please watch the girl. I will talk to you later."

A door opened and shut and it was quiet for a while.

"I think I should move on. There is nothing here." Kirsten wondered why this memory was so important. And then the door opened and light swam in. Katarzyna with her bright green eyes and dark brown hair hunched over the girl and picked her up off the floor.

"Hush hush. Shhh. Darling."

"I want to go home." Kelly cried as she was placed on her feet. Katarzyna straightened her pajamas and brushed her hair back.

"I know, Sweetheart. Soon. I will take you home."

"I want my mommy." Kelly continued.

"I need you to listen to me, okay? You're going to have to be very quiet, and I will help you get home."

Kelly nodded.

"She's very serious about something." Kirsten crouched down to be at eye level with Katarzyna.

"My name is Essie Star. When you get home, please tell someone you saw me."

Kirsten repeated the sentence.

Cameron went cold all over and nearly dropped his handles. He took a deep breath and tried desperately to focus.

"Time's out. Lets go." Maggie said, getting frustrated with lack of information.

"I heart Linus." And Kirsten was out.

"Essie Star. That's another clue?" Kirsten asked, unsure.

"No initial find for Essie Star." Camille complained.

Cameron took another deep breath and walked over to Camille. Kirsten got out of the water and walked across the lab in a towel.

"Try Isabelle Starland." Cameron could barely say. Camille stared at him for a second and then typed in the name.

"Ten year old Isabelle Starland went missing from her family home." Camille read the first headline that popped up. "Girl taken from her own bed." She read a few headlines. "Isabelle still missing."

"These are about fifteen years old." Kirsten commented. "But it has to be her. Look at her picture."

Cameron refused to look up, he was going through something in his head that he didn't know how to process or explain.

"Bright green eyes that is hard to miss." Camille commented as she scrolled through a few pictures. "How did you know this?" she asked Cameron.

"Essie Star was my best friend." He breathed. "I'm the reason she was taken."


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

The Stitchers team sat in the conference room. Cameron had his hands in his hair, frustrated with everyone staring at him.

"We were neighbors. Walked to school together, sat at lunch together, walked home, did homework and watched TV until bed time. Almost as if we lived together. Her parents died when she was two years old and then raised by her grandparents. The day she was taken, she told me she felt as if we were being followed. She spent the entire afternoon staring out her windows, looking for someone who wasn't there. That night she asked if I could sleep over. It was something we did often so it was no big deal. Halfway through our TV marathon we got in a fight and I went home. The next morning I wanted to apologize but she was gone."

"Why did she say Essie Star?" Camille asked.

"I gave her that name. She wanted to be in showbiz, so she started calling herself that wherever she went." Cameron had many memories with her, but that fight they had that night haunts him till this day.

"Fisher is trying to track down a trace of the old Kidnap case file. Since it's so old, it hadn't been digitized. If we get that, maybe we can figure something out." Maggie said.

"Wait a minute." Camille said. "If Kirsten said that Essie, Isabel, Katarzyna whatever, was sitting in the front seat, how did that change? And who's the little boy? Where are they?"

Kirsten tried to think through the memories, trying to see minor details that she had missed.

"The accident report stated that there was no car malfunction. The accident was caused by them." Maggie read through the report.

"Maybe if I go back to the scene of the accident, I'll remember more things?" Kirsten tried.

"It doesn't work like that. You know that." Cameron stated.

"I don't know. I just want to see where it happened." Kirsten stood from her seat and headed to the door.

"I'm coming with." Camille jumped up and followed her.

"Me too." Cameron stated as he followed them.

"Team effort?" Linus asked no one in particular as he too stood from his seat.

On their way to the accident site, Cameron argued with Camille, trying to get her to stop staring at him and ask him questions. Kirsten staired out the window and once they were in a recognizable place, her mind went numb.

"I feel…" she mumbled. "Weird."

"Weird how?" Cameron asked, always concerned about her.

"I don't know. Stupid?" Kirsten couldn't explain the strange blank feeling in her mind. They arrived at the bridge where the car had crashed and all of them got out. Kirsten stared around the place.

"This is where the car crashed." Camille checked the accident report and indicated the post at the end of the bridge. It looked fully intact but damaged. There was a deep slope behind the post that went straight down to the bushes and rocks underneath. Kirsten felt a strange urge to walk to the edge and look down. Everyone watched her as she leaned over the railing and looked at the rocks bellow.

"There's blood down there." Kirsten noted the dark mark on the rock. It was brown and possibly dry already, but she felt that it must be blood. "Someone fell down here." Kirsten said with certainty.

Everyone glanced over the edge and looked at the distance between them and the bottom. Anyone who fell that far would surely be dead.

A movement drew Cameron's attention and he looked a bit farther to his right. Something black and furry moved in the bushes.

"What is that?" He mumbled as he tried to get a better look. He leaned over sideways and saw that he was looking at a human being.

He jerked up and rushed down the road to a safe place to get down. Everyone followed him without knowing where he was heading. He climbed down the slope and reached the person. It was a young woman, early twenties, pretty.

"That's her." Kirsten stated once she reached them. "That's Katarzyna."

"She's alive."


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

"Please don't die, Essie." Cameron mumbled as he paced up and down the hospital waiting room.

"Oh, I know why you're feeling stupid." Camille stated randomly. However, it was meant for Kirsten.

"I'm not stupid." Kirsten defended quickly. Then she frowned, she did feel stupid and was acting strange.

"Do you want to know or not?" Camille threatened.

"Sure."

"They drugged the little girl. I'm guessing that fogginess is stuck in your head."

"Oh yeah. That makes sense." Kirsten mumbled.

"Does it?" Cameron stared at her. The effect of this last stitch wasn't good.

The doctor walked into the waiting room, still in scrubs.

"Are you the people who found her?" he asked.

"Yeah. Yes. I'm Cameron. Her next of kin." He lied.

"Well, okay, considering the height you described, it's a miracle she's alive."

"How bad is it?"

"Another shocking thing: not that bad. She has a few broken ribs, which is a little strange, considering their placement. There is a bump on the back of her head but her scull is intact, we're still monitoring her brain but we can't tell whether she'll have any problems. And she has a fractured ankle and a broken wrist. She could walk out of here with just an ankle brace and a wrist splint. If she walks out, that is. We can't determine whether she has brain damage. We need to wait for her to wake up."

"Can I see her?" Cameron asked.

"Not yet. I will have a nurse come call you if she's in a room."

And then the doctor left. Cameron turned around and bit his thumbnail, worried.

"I think she was pushed off the cliff." Kirsten suddenly said. Everyone turned to face her.

"If she jumped, she would have taken one step forward and crashed into the rocks with her feet first…" Kirsten was looking on her phone at the pictures that Camille had taken.

"I see you're back to normal." Camille commented.

"Yeah." Kirsten dismissed the comment and continued. "Normally, if you jump off a cliff or ledge or even just a short distance, you would take a step forward. That's maximum two feet away, and you're far more likely to end up on your feet. If you get shoved, there would be more force in the movement forward so it would be up to four feet away from the edge. And in that case you might not land on your feet. You are far more likely to turn on your back – if you're facing your assailant – or face down – if you don't see it coming. I think that she was facing her attacker, who shoved her off the edge and she fell into the shrubbery a few feet away." Kirsten showed them the picture she'd been staring at. "It looks like normal moss but it's thicker and softer. I'm thinking that she landed with most of her back on that. The ribs are from the accident, maybe even the wrist."

"Who would shove her?" Camille asked.

"Gypsy. The old woman. She clearly hated her." Kirsten stated.

"But she died in the car accident."

"Did she? None of it makes any sense." Kirsten turned around and got back in a seat just as Fisher rushed in.

"Did you seriously find Isabelle Starland?" was the first thing Fisher asked.

"You know her too?" Camille asked.

"I remember the case. It was big news. My dad yelled at my sister so much that first week that she never wanted to go anywhere without them. Scared she'd be taken too."

"She was taken from her bed. At night. Not the streets." Cameron stated and then kicked a nearby chair.

"Uhm. Yeah. You're right." Fisher was taken aback by Cameron's burst of anger and very confused. He shook his head and opened the file he'd been holding. "Anyway. Here's her file." He handed Camille the file and she scanned through it.

"She's awake." A nurse said as she walked in. Cameron ignored the file and followed the nurse. Kirsten followed and then everyone else trailed behind. "Only two at a time." The nurse said as she stopped at the door.

"Who?" Camille wondered.

"I'm a cop." Fisher nominated himself

"I'm her… something." Cameron mumbled the end.

"You're the husband?" the nurse heard wrong. "Then I should give you this." She handed him a large zip lock bag with her clothes and accessories.

"Thanks." He mumbled and took the bag before she turned and left.

"I'll take that." Fisher said and took the bag. "Evidence."

Cameron took a deep breath and opened the door, leading the way in.

"Where is she?" Fisher asked when they found the room empty with nothing but a messed up bed.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Cameron and Fisher stared at each other for a second, wondering whether the nurse had brought them to the wrong room. But when he heard whimpering, Cameron placed his finger over his lips and indicated to Fisher to stay by the door, as he tiptoed to the other side of the bed.

There she was, hiding under the bed and trying not to cry. Her face and eyes were red from crying and that made the green stand out so much brighter. It was definitely his Essie.

"Isabel?" Cameron whispered and she recoiled. "Essie?" he continued, taking a step closer. She sucked in her tears and quickly stared up at him.

"Who are you?" she asked trying to look brave.

"Cameron."

"Cameron?" she stared at him as he hunched down in front of her.

"Cameron Goodkin."

She started crying again. "Cameroni?" she asked through tears and suddenly he was crying too.

"Yes."

She launched herself at him and threw her arms around his neck, hugging him close as she cried.

"I knew you would find me." She mumbled. "I knew it. I knew it."

"Let's get you off the floor, okay?" Cameron picked her up and helped her onto the bed.

She held his face and stared at him. "You're so handsome." she mumbled and Fisher cleared his throat. Her attention jumped to him and she gripped Cameron's shoulder so hard that he yelped.

"Who's that?" She asked after she apologized.

"Detective Fisher." He introduced himself, stepping forward. She shifted away from him.

"Detective?" her whole attitude was different. She grabbed Cameron with her splinted hand and quickly let go, moaning from the pain.

"He's just going to ask you a few questions." Cameron tried to calm her.

"About the car accident?" she asked softly.

"Yes."

Fisher took out his notebook and pen and stood ready to take down notes.

"Don't go." She uttered as Cameron stepped towards a chair.

"I'm just going to… Never mind, I'll stay here."

She looked at him and smiled.

"So, tell me about the accident." Fisher said.

"What accident?" she frowned suddenly and Fisher stared at Cameron, confused.

"The car accident. You just…" Cameron started and her eyes grew in fear.

"Car accident? Who got hurt? Is my grandma okay? Is that why I'm in the hospital?"

"Wow. I'm getting whiplash," Fisher commented about her mood swings.

"It's a good thing you're in a hospital then." She joked, her fear completely gone.

"Yep. Major Whiplash." Fisher wondered if he was going to get any answers from her.

Her whole demeanor changed suddenly. "Whiplash?" She zoned out and was in a world of her own. "Bellamy? Bellamy? Bellamy?" she mumbled as she twisted around and looked for someone behind her. Fisher started writing down.

"Kelly? Oh no. I'm sorry. What did I do? Bellamy?" she ranted and Fisher wrote down everything she said. A nurse walked in and saw the rant and quickly ran to a drawer and grabbed a syringe.

"I had to do it, you don't understand…" she continued on. When the nurse got close, she snapped out of it and tried to get away. "No. No. No. No. I won't do it again. Please, please don't…"

"Hold her down," the nurse instructed Cameron when Essie violently tried to get away.

"Let me go you witch!" she yelled as Cameron did as he was told and the nurse injected Essie.

Essie touched Cameron's face, as she started calming down. "My name is Essie Star. Tell someone you saw me." Her hand slipped and she passed out.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

"What the hell just happened?" Fisher asked. He and Cameron had left the room and joined the others in the waiting area again.

"What happened?" Camille asked. "We heard screaming."

"Did you kill her?" Linus asked.

"The nurse gave her a mild sedative." Cameron said. "Fifty percent chance that her outburst was just a negative reaction to the anesthetics wearing off." He continued. "It happens sometimes. Combination of stress and physical injury can overwhelm the brain."

"And the other fifty percent?" Kirsten asked.

"She broke." Cameron sunk down in the nearest seat and the others joined him.

"Can I see that?" Kirsten had her eyes fixed on the plastic bag of Essie's personal effects. She grabbed it before Fisher could answer and stared at the collar of the black jacket.

"What is so fascinating about the jacket?" Camille asked.

"There's a white hair on the collar." Kirsten pointed it out. A long white hair curled around the collar and stuck to the fibers on the back. She opened the bag, despite Fisher's protest and removed the hair from the jacket. She strung it out to its full length and examined it.

"It's fake." She stated. "Remember when I said there was a blond woman in the front seat? It was her, with another wig."

"Where's the wig now?" Camille wondered.

"Must have come off when she was thrown off the cliff, scattered to the wind." Kirsten checked the rest of the bag's contents and ignored Fisher's second feeble objection.

"Wedding ring?" Kirsten asked and showed them the last thing left in the bag. It almost looked as if it was hand made. The band was dusty gold that actually resembled twigs and they entangled around a roughly cut white crystal.

"Maybe. Maybe not." Fisher took the bag and looked at the ring. "They were known pickpockets. No wait. This is handmade. It's one of those carnival booth jewels. But a lot more detail than any old carnie gem."

"You know about jewelry?" Camille found this entertaining. And sexy.

"I know a lot of things that would knock your boots off." He did not intend for that to sound as dirty as it had come out, but it made Camille smile.

"By the way." Fisher looked at Cameron. "Cameroni?"

"We were ten." Cameron slipped down lower in his chair. He held his hands together, silently praying that the rant was not a mental break.

"She called you Cameroni?" Camille asked with a wider smile. "That's so cute."

"What did she say?" Kirsten got back to business. Fisher checked his notes, still confused with the whole scene. "

"She said: _'Kelly… Oh no. I'm sorry. What did I do. Bellamy.'_ " Fisher read his notes without emotions or inflictions. " _'I had to do it, you don't understand…'_ she continued on. When the nurse got close with the syringe, she snapped out of it and tried to get away. _'No. No. No. No. I won't do it again. Please, please don't…'_ and then _'Let me go you witch.'_ She seemed to be somewhere else. And then that… _'My name is Essie Star. Tell someone you saw me.'_ – sentence. What does that mean?" he asked Cameron.

"We were ten!" Cameron snapped and jumped up.

"Okay!" Camille jumped in. "Chill out there, Cameroni. Maybe you should get some rest, or coffee or something."

Cameron stared at her for a second. "I'm fine." He said. "Sorry."

"I need to get some rest. Three stitches in one day is exhausting." Kirsten grabbed her jacket and waited for her ride.

"Yeah. I would like a nice shower and some food." Camille said, following Kirsten's example.

"I'm staying." Cameron said defiantly.

After some casual niceties were passed between them all, Cameron was the only one who stayed behind. After sitting in the uncomfortable waiting room chair for too long, he got up and snuck down the hall and into Essie's room. She wasn't moving. His heart raced as he stepped closer to check if she was breathing. She sighed in her deep sleep and moved her head.

Satisfied that she was okay, Cameron pulled a chair closer and sat down. He was going to wait for her to wake up, even if he had to wait for days.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

"Cameron." A voice dragged him from his dreams. Cameron sat up and instantly regretted falling asleep on the chair. He felt stiff as he tried to stretch out the pain and stopped mid-stretch when he realized who had woken him.

Camille stood by the window and opened the curtains, blinding him with the bright light.

"Go home." She urged. "Go take a shower, sleep in your bed and eat something other than crappy vending machine stuff. You've been here more than you've been home."

"I'm okay." He couldn't even convince himself with that statement. He desperately needed a shower and real food.

"The doctor said that she's going to be out for a while."

"It's been two weeks." Cameron complained.

"Yeah. Remember the talk the doctor had with you? How he mentioned that he's putting her in a drug induced coma? Because the second time she woke up, she was in so much pain that she lost all sense of logic? Speaking in tongues and throwing tantrums. Because she's in pain. Remember?"

"What if she wakes up?" Cameron asked.

"She won't. But we will be here when she does. Besides if you don't go back to work tomorrow, Maggie might steal Essie and keep her at the lab just to get you there."

Cameron stood up and stretched, moaning at the pain it caused. After a fruitless stare down with Camille he grabbed his jacket and walked out.

It had been two weeks since they found her. She had since then woken up one more time and freaked out. She couldn't remember anything and she was in pain. And she couldn't even speak English. The doctors had decided to place her in a medical coma in order for her to sleep through most of the pain, and to protect her brain from swelling. Cameron visited every day and tried to figure out if there was a way to recalibrate the Stitchers lab so that they can get her memories while she's in the coma. But the risks were too many and too high. His friends had taken turns visiting when they chased him away from the hospital and kept him updated on her mumblings in her sleep. They actually did this for Maggie, and only partially for him. No one really understood his need for her to be okay.

The press had been kept in the dark about the girl found after fifteen years but the risk of it coming out was growing every day.

Fisher tried to track down Essie's living relatives but it turns out that both her grandparents had died a few years ago and no other relatives could be contacted.

That next week, Maggie kept Cameron elbow deep in work. Since they didn't have any cases to work on for now, she had them recalibrate the entire Stitchers system and she signed them up for first aid classes and a few other safety lectures.

By Friday, Cameron was so tired of work that he wanted to slip out as soon as they were done and go check on Essie.

"Cameron." Maggie called him just as he was heading towards the elevator. He stopped for a second and then turned. "Can I see you in my office?"

Cameron walked up the steps and followed Maggie into her office. He dropped his back and sat across from her.

"I know you want to go check on Isabelle but you can't."

"You can't really stop me." Cameron retorted.

"Cameron, there is something you should know." Maggie held a few papers in her hands.

"What happened?" He was instantly on edge.

"She woke up."

"What? Is she okay, is there brain damage, does she remember?" Cameron felt as if his skin was the only thing keeping him there, he wanted to go to her so fast that he might not even grab his bag.

"She's fine. Minimal damage. She's been through a few tests. She doesn't remember anything before the hospital. She remembers you and has been asking for you."

"Can I go now?" Cameron had been listening with half an ear because he desperately wanted to leave.

"She's been assigned to a halfway house."

"Maggie, can I please go?"

"Something you should know." Maggie was serious again. "She was pregnant."


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Cameron stood in the hospital hallway, waiting for the Doctor to show up. Maggie had told him to go get Essie and then take her to the assigned halfway house with Fisher. But he wanted to know what the doctors thought.

"Mr. Goodkin." The doctor seemed tired as he walked up to Cameron.

"What's going on? Is Essie okay?"

"She prefers to go by Isabelle now." The doctor said quickly. "We've done several tests and found that her Narrative memory of the last fifteen years is gone but her procedural memory in tact."

"What does that mean?"

"Conceptually she understands the world. She can walk and talk, she knows that time has passed since she was kidnapped and she understands the concept of kidnapping, but the events within that time are gone."

"Will they come back?"

"Maybe. It's all part of a head injury and post traumatic stress disorder."

"She was pregnant?" Cameron forced himself to ask.

"She's given birth. Some time ago."

"How do you know that?"

"Well, we did a rape kit when she was brought in. Procedure. No signs of rape, but scarring from giving birth. Listen, she knows who you are. She remembers freaking out when she woke up, but she can't remember anything before that."

Fisher showed up and listened to part of the conversation.

"She's good to go?" Fisher wondered.

"Yes. She's in a moonboot. She can walk fine with it. No crutches because she broke her wrist again."

"Can she answer questions?" Fisher asked.

"I'd advise you to wait for her to relax before you lay into the heavy questioning. She can't remember anything. But perhaps with time."

Cameron zoned out when the door to Essie's room opened and a nurse pushed her out in a wheelchair.

 _Isabelle_ , Cameron reminded himself.

Once she saw him, Isabelle kept her eyes on Cameron as she was pushed closer.

"She's all ready." The nurse said as she stopped next to the Doctor.

"Isabelle, do you remember these gentlemen?" the doctor asked as he gestured to Cameron and Fisher.

"Cameron." She said without taking her eyes off him. "And detective Fisher."

"You remember." Cameron smiled. "How do you feel?"

"With my hands." she stated. "And fine. Thanks."

"Isabelle, Mr. Goodkin is your guardian. Are you comfortable with that?" The doctor asked.

"Why do I need a guardian?"

"Because you have no assets and you need to be kept in observation."

"And it isn't fun to be alone." Cameron added.

"Yes I'm comfortable with that."

"Well then, it was interesting to have met you. Please call me if you start feeling sick."

The doctor nodded and walked away. Cameron, Fisher and the nurse then headed to the hospital's front door where Fisher had parked his car. The nurse pushed Isabelle to the curb and waited for her to get out. After Fisher opened the door, he turned and Isabelle fell into him.

She had stood from the wheel chair and quickly lost her balance. She grabbed Fisher's arm to steady herself and ended up crashing fully into him.

"Sorry." She apologized and stood up straight.

"That's okay." He pursed his lips and gestured to her to climb into the car.

Arriving at the halfway house, Fisher grabbed a bag out of the back and carried it into the house as Cameron and Isabelle followed behind.

"Camille got you a few things to wear and some other toiletries. Things you might need." Fisher placed the bag by the stairs.

"Who's Camille?" Isabelle wondered.

"She's a friend of mine." Cameron stated and grabbed the bag. "I'll put these in your room for you."

"There will be cops outside tonight." Fisher told her and she jerked.

"To keep someone else out? Or to keep me in?" she asked with a high-pitched voice.

"Just to protect you. Do you know what you want for dinner?"

"No." Isabelle crossed her arms and leaned against the stairs banister.

"Pizza." Cameron said as he walked down the stairs.

"Sure. Pizza." Isabelle walked up the stairs slowly. Fisher nodded and walked out the house to go get dinner.

The house was silent. Cameron stood near the stairs, wondering where he was supposed to go or what to do. He desperately wanted to speak to Isabelle but didn't know if she wanted to be alone. Eventually he went upstairs and knocked on her door.

"Essie." He thumped his head against the door when he realized he'd already slipped up. "I mean, Isabelle."

"Come in Cameron." She called. He opened the door and saw her sitting cross-legged on the bed.

"Are you okay?" he asked and sat on the bed.

She played with a watch on the bed and eventually held it up for him to see.

"I stole this from Fisher. And I didn't even realize it. It just happened."


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

"Why would I steal?" she asked with a deep frown in her brow. "I don't even remember thinking about it. He was helping me into the car and the next thing I knew I sat in the backseat, holding the watch in my lap.

"Maybe it dropped?" Cameron tried to help.

"No. I remember my fingers taking it off his wrist. It felt so normal."

"Cool." Cameron turned the watch around in his hands and eventually placed it on his own wrist, tying it with difficulty.

"It isn't cool. Staying up all night to watch X-files when you're ten years old, that's cool. This is not."

"It's a clue." Cameron tried to be reassuring. Because it was a clue; something that she remembered from the last few years. The people she had been with were known as pick pockets and thieves. So it meant that she had indeed been with them all this time.

"Yeah, that I'm a horrible person." Her frown deepened. Cameron stretched out his hand and tried to even out her frown. She sighed and closed her eyes. Her breath rushing over his wrist shocked him and his hand slipped down her face softly. Her eyes opened wide and she stared at him. He removed his hand and wished the ground would swallow him.

"Sorry." He mumbled. She shook her head and took his hand back to her face. She placed it against her cheek and leaned into his touch, closing her eyes. She moved on the bed and pulled him closer, putting her hands in his hair and slowing her breath. Cameron forgot how to breathe. He fought against closing his eyes but gave in when her hands moved down to his neck and she breathed him in.

"This feels…" she whispered, and searched for the right word. "Familiar."

"What?" He breathed. Her lips unintentionally brushed over his cheek as she moved even closer. Cameron opened his eyes and looked at her closely, trying to control his breathing. He turned his hand around and brushed his knuckles over her skin.

"This?" he whispered as he slid his hand down her neck. She took a deep breath but kept her eyes closed.

The front door shut loudly and Cameron snapped out of his daze. Isabelle jerked but her eyes remained closed as she let him go, a deep frown forming again.

"I didn't know what kind of pizza you wanted." Fisher called downstairs. "So I got one of each. Cheese, vegie and peperoni."

Isabelle opened her eyes and got off the bed, trudging her way down the stairs. Cameron took a deep breath and followed her.

"I also got dipping breadsticks." Fisher said, it sounded to himself, as Isabelle walked into the kitchen.

"You won't believe it, some idiot at the pizza place grabbed my watch." Isabelle and Cameron looked up quickly. "He's swearing he didn't do it, but he tried the old bump and swipe."

Cameron looked at Isabelle and then back at Fisher. "Did you get your watch back?" he asked.

"No, it wasn't on him, must have handed it to a buddy."

"This watch?" Isabelle held the watch in her hand. Cameron frowned as he quickly looked down at his wrist where he had placed it just minutes ago. She had taken it again. She was good.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Fisher spent the rest of the night staring at Isabelle. He turned his watch over and over gain in his hand, putting it on and taking it off, trying to figure out how she could do it.

Isabelle tried bites of all the kinds of pizzas, trying to figure out what she liked.

"I don't know how I do it. It just comes naturally." Isabelle said. "I'm sure if you ask me to do it now, I won't be able to."

"Roman and Gypsy weren't really pickpockets. It comes with the shady business, but they didn't really need to." Fisher stated before biting into a cold slice of pizza.

"Who?" Isabelle asked.

"The people responsible for your kidnapping." Cameron said.

She stared at him for a minute. "Don't remember them. I'm drawing a blank." She dropped the slice she had in her hand and pushed the plate away.

"It will get back to you." Cameron tried to reassure her. But truthfully, he wasn't so sure himself.

"I'll bring you files and information so that you can go through it all. Maybe it could bring something back." Fisher said as he carried his plate to the sink.

"Yeah. And maybe you can talk to Kirsten. She has some information too. I'll bring you our Stitchers file." Cameron wanted to touch her hand but held himself back.

"Anyway, you should probably get some rest." Fisher started walking to the front door. "I will bring you those files in the morning. I have to go get them at the office first. I'll swing around at ten."

"Cameron, are you leaving too?" Isabelle asked with a strange tone.

"Don't you want to rest?" Cameron asked. Fisher stood by the door, unsure if he had said his goodbyes or not.

"I've been sleeping for weeks." she stated.

"Yeah, but you've been tested and prodded and questioned." Cameron quickly reached forward and touched her hand. "Aren't you tired?"

"No." she looked down, avoiding his eyes. Cameron's heart sank; he knew that look on her face. She was lying. Or maybe she wasn't. He had to remind himself that he didn't know her anymore.

"Uhm. Well, I could stay a while if you want me to." He scratched his head, unsure of what he could do for her. Her face lit up and she smiled a cute smile but she hid it quickly.

"Yeah, I'll see you guys later" Fisher called from the door and left.

Cameron cleared the rest of the kitchen and went searching for Isabelle who had walked through the house, looking for something to do. They returned to the kitchen with a deck of cards.

Cameron sat opposite her at the table as she removed the cards from the packaging. They hadn't said much since Fisher had left, but Cameron kept watching her. She seemed to be deep in thought as she spread the card out in a fan on the table.

"Pick a card," she said.

Realizing that she must be remembering something, Cameron took a card from the fan and pulled it out.

"Look at it and memorize it." Isabelle said as if she wasn't really there.

Cameron looked at his card. Two of hearts. Isabelle collected the fan and shuffled the cards. She ran her fingers down the deck of cards and told Cameron to say stop. When she was two thirds down the deck, he called stop and she cut the deck. She held that place for him to replace his card and shuffled the cards again. She placed four cards face down on the table and placed the rest aside.

"This one is your card." she tapped one of the four cards.

"And the other three?" Cameron whispered.

"Distractions. Shuffle them. All four." Cameron did as he was told and placed them back in a neat line. Isabelle held her hand palm down over the cards each in turn and stopped at one. "This is your card," she said as she turned the Two of hearts around.

Cameron smiled. "Cool. You can do magic."

"I don't know how I did that."

"It comes with the circus." Cameron stated. "The Stitch, the pickpocketing, and magic. You were part of the circus."

"What's the stitch?" she asked.

"Oh. Uhm." he didn't know how to explain it since he wasn't really allowed to tell her anything, but she probably needed to know some things. "I can't really explain it. It's a way that we get information that other people don't have." was the only thing he could really say.

"What information did you get?" She asked.

"Not really much." Cameron wondered what would be giving anything away.

"Cameron. I have nothing!" she snapped and stood up. "And you're keeping things from me." she shoved the cards and walked out before he could say anything.

He collected the scattered cards and left the deck neatly piled before going to find her again. He wondered if he should rather leave, but decided to at least check on her before just disappearing. He walked into her room after knocking quickly and found her curled up on the bed. His heart melted.

"Essie." he mumbled as he stepped in and climbed onto the bed. he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into an embrace. They stayed that way for a long time, not saying a word or moving. Eventually, he drifted off into sleep.

Cameron woke in the late hours in the dark room when Isabelle started scratching at him. "No, no, no…" she whined as she tried to get out of his arms.

"Hey, hey… It's me…. shhh…." he loosened his grip, but tried to calm her. He could hardly see her face in the dark, but he realized that she must be deep in the throes of a nightmare. "Shh…" he continued as he gently stroked her face.

She gasped as if suddenly waking up and jerked away from him. "It's okay," he whispered. "You're safe."

Suddenly her hands reached out to him and searched for his face. She pulled him closer and kissed him. She kissed him desperately as she whimpered away her tears.

"Whoa, whoa." he said between deep kisses and fumbled behind him for a lamp switch. He finally found one just as she slipped her fingers in under his shirt.

As the light came on, her sanity returned. As her face started flushing red she tried to cover her face. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry," she said.

"I guess that's another clue?" Cameron tried to be supportive.

"How?"

"You were with someone. I mean. You loved someone."


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Cameron stayed with Isabel until the sun came up, Fisher showed up with breakfast, and Cameron took the opportunity to go home. He took a shower, ate his usual breakfast and went to the office.

"How is she?" Camile asked the minute he walked in.

"She's so confused. And I hate that I can't help her."

"It will come back to her." Camile tried to be helpful.

They stitched back into Gypsy, hoping to get a few new memories.

"Talk to me, Princess." Cameron said.

"I'm in a car with Hathor. Parked in front of someone's house. It's late. There's no life in the street. There is a boy here too. He looks pale. This is not the car that was in the accident by the way."

Kirsten followed them out of the car. "Hathor is holding the boy by his collar." She explained as they walked softly up the driveway towards the house. Gypsy threw broken shards of colored glass around the house and whispered something inaudible. They walked towards the backdoor and Hathor gently broke open the window, and opened the door. Hathor took the boy upstairs and split ways with Gypsy.

"I'm going to a different room," Kirsten explained. She ended up in front of a door with colorful letters spelling out Kelly's name. She walked in with Gypsy and before she understood what was going on, Gypsy had a cloth over Kelly's mouth and nose and quickly carried her out the room.

"Hathor and the boy is racing down the house. There's blood on the boy's sleeve." They raced out of the house, Hathor ran for the drivers seat and started the car, the boy got in the front and Gypsy climbed in the back with Kelly and they drove off.

"Can you fast forward this memory?" Kirsten asked. "Maybe I can see where they're going."

"Okay, going to try." Cameron said as he and Linus tried to get the memory to move forward, without bouncing.

"Forwarding." Cameron confirmed and the drive was sped up.

"Okay slow down." Kirsten said as she started getting dizzy. "We're here. It's called the World of Wonders Traveling Carnival." Camille started to search.

"I have a facebook check-in from three months ago." Camille said as she read. "Hazel Main was impressed by the house of mirrors, the horror room and the beautiful fortune teller, but is zilch impressed that she got grounded for losing her phone even though it was totally stolen." Camille read, impersonating a teenager.

"Isabelle can pickpocket like a pro. She's probably right." Cameron said then focused back on Kirsten. "What else do you see?"

"Oh, there's Katarzyna… Isabelle, whatever. Thomas is holding her back, she looks pissed." Kirsten explained as the car arrived at a mobile home.

"Get her inside. Contain her, Thomas." Hathor said to Thomas as he led the boy to another mobile home. Kirsten followed Gypsy into the mobile home and watched as she placed Kelly into the closet. Thomas half wrestled Katarzyna/Isabelle inside and pushed her into a chair. He wasn't violent with her, no trace of anger on his face, just concern.

"What's your problem, Katarzyna?" Gypsy asked her. Isabelle looked towards the closet and back at Gypsy.

"Who is that? Where did she come from?"

"Mikael calls her Tomke. She's the one he wants."

"Where did you…" She tried but Thomas shook his head and she stopped mid sentence.

"Watch her." Gypsy said heartlessly and headed to the door.

"Time!" said Camille outside the stitch.

"Bring back my baby!" Isabel yelled and Gypsy turned back.

With a final sentence, Kirsten bounced out. "You are not a fit mother for him." Gypsy said, maddening Isabelle who jumped up towards Gypsy just as the image went away.

Kirsten got out of the water.

"Where is the carnival?" Maggie asked.

"It's just out of town, in a meadow of some sort. I can get there." Kirsten stated.

"They might not even be there anymore." Camille said. "The check in on facebook was in Pensilvania. They travel. They are a traveling Carnival…" She stated the obvious.

"It's worth a look."

"I just figured it out." Linus quantified. Everyone stared at him.

"What, you genius?" Camille humored him.

"They're Romani brides." Linus said. "Isabelle and Kelly, maybe even Gypsy."

"There hadn't been any confirmed Romani's in the US in several years." Maggie countered.

"Of course there are, they just blend in now."

"People can't live under the radar anymore. These people have been documented and are registered US citizens."

"Isabelle lived for fifteen years under the radar."


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

When Cameron and Kirsten got in the car to go to the Carnival's last site, Cameron had a better idea.

"Let's get Isabel and take her with."

"Okay." Kirsten frowned. "You sure it's a good idea?"

"She gets out of the house, helps with the case. Can only do good."

"Fine. But if she cracks, then I won't take responsibility for it." Kirsten said as she drove towards the house where Isabel was staying.

Arriving at the house, Cameron walked in, hoping to find her watching TV or perhaps taking a nap but she sat in the smallest room, with her back pressed against the wall, staring at what looked like a shrine against the far wall.

"What is going on?" Cameron asked, helping her off the floor. "This is Kirsten." He quickly introduced them.

"I know who you are." Kirsten stated and shook Isabel's hand.

"Then you know more than me." Isabel turned to face the wall of paper and notes.

"This looks like something I would do to get facts straight." Kirsten pointed at the map and the newspaper articles and police reports.

"That is what I'm trying to do." Isabel said. "I can't wrap my head around anything, so Fisher brought me all the paperwork on my case, some on sightings of Gypsy and a few notable disappearances."

"Then you should add this too." Cameron said as he handed her a folder from the lab.

"Did you steal that?" Kirsten complained.

"They're copies. And Maggie knows." Cameron defended as Isabel opened the file and started reading through it.

"How did you get this?" Isabel wondered as she paged on.

"They're memories. From the people in the crash with you." Kirsten said bluntly before Cameron could stop her.

"Memories? How? No, never mind." Isabel took pages out of the file and started placing it on her wall. "So, Hathor was known as Roman?" she asked.

"Yes, and you were known as Katarzyna." Kirsten ignored Cameron's face that clearly didn't want her to explain too much.

"Katarzyna?" Isabel paused and stared out blankly. "Katarzyna?" she repeated.

"Does it ring a bell?" Cameron was hopeful.

"Not really. I remember a boy's voice saying it. And then stuff that doesn't make sense." Isabel held her head as if it was holding too much information.

"What did he say?"

"He said: "You look like a Katarzyna.""

"What did he look like?" Cameron felt that this was a small memory trying to get through.

"And then it goes away." Isabelle shook her head and looked back at the papers. She frowned. "Thomas?" she said the name wrong. The "Th" sounded like the "Th" in "third" and the "mas" like "mass".

"Why would you say it like that?" Cameron was curious.

"Say what?"

"Thomas. Why did you say Thow-mass?"

"Thomas? This isn't Thomas. You spell it T – A – M – A – S." Isabel frowned.

"Tamas?" Cameron matched her frown.

Kirsten jumped on her phone quickly. "Camille, Search for any kids or teens named Thomas, spelled Tamas. Okay." She hung up. "She'll let us know what she gets."

"You probably wont find him in any database." Isabelle said. She was staring at the map and pictures as if she was in a trance. "He wouldn't get caught. If he did, he'd use a fake name. And a cousin would pretend to be his father to get him out of jail."

Cameron and Kirsten stared at each other.

"How do you retrieve these memories?" she asked as if she'd never been in a trance.

"We hook up into their brains. It's complicated." Cameron was still spinning from her weirdness.

"Try and explain it to me." Isabelle insisted.

"It's…" he tried but she completed his sentence. "Complicated." She sighed.

"Why cant you stitch into me?" she continued.

"You're brain fights back. Pushes against the intrusion." Cameron explained. She frowned anyway.

"The brain works like a library, right?" Isabelle asked. "Information in heaps and stacked away in shelves. You go into people's libraries and take the info you want, right?"

"Sort of, yes." Cameron was trying to follow her creative way of thinking.

"So go get my info." Isabelle maintained.

"Your library has an angry librarian who would scream at us and stop us from taking info." Cameron stated.

"The librarian being my conscious brain?" she understood more than he thought she would.

"Yes. And I'm not getting rid of the librarian."

"Brain damage would mean books in burnt piles, right? But I have no brain damage. Just a blockage. So, a locked library?"

"You're taking this analogy a bit far. But sure, I guess."

"I won't have an angry librarian. I'll be willing to divulge any information I can. I'll probably even help."

"It doesn't…" Cameron rubbed his face, trying to think of a delicate way to put her idea down.

"We could try." Kirsten stated, gaining a glare from Cameron.

"You can't map out memories like this. It would be like driving stick. Going on manual mode. There is nothing to keep you on a path and you'd be in a brain that is drawing a lot of blanks."

"It's still a library." Kirsten said. "And the librarian is willing."


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

For the entire drive back to the lab, Cameron tried to think of a way to make this happen without killing Isabelle. In his head he kept running into walls with his plans and often said to them that it wouldn't be possible. Kirsten kept saying that it was possible.

By the time they reached the lab, Linus and Camile was already waiting with the team. Kirsten had called Camile and told her about the idea. She then told Linus and Maggie, and they thought it was worth a shot; they even had a long discussion about how to make it possible.

When the three of them walked in, there were two "fish tanks" next to each other.

"Considering we're not going to sever her conscious from this, we need to monitor her like we do Kirsten." Linus said as he was running around the place, trying to mix equipment and program code to make it work. "She will need to wear a suit like Kirsten too."

"Follow me." Kirsten led the way to her change room and pulled out an extra cat suit for Isabelle. "It's to help read your vitals and monitor you."

Isabelle nodded and started stripping in front of Kirsten. Out of shock, Kirsten quickly turned her back on Isabelle but eventually shook her head and changed too. By the time she was done, Isabelle was staring down at herself, pulling at the material and flexing under its grip.

"Yeah it feels weird the first time." Kirsten said simply, knowing it to be true.

By the time they walked into the lab, it looked like Cameron, Linus and Maggie had figured out a logical way to do this without anyone getting dead or hurt. It was definitely worth a shot.

Kirsten stared down at the commotion as she and Isabelle walked out of the changing room. Cameron and Linus were discussing the code to change the program so that both of the ladies could actually move around in the mental space. It sounded ridiculous, even to them.

Isabelle walked up to the railing, placed her hands on it and pushed forward, lifted her feet off the ground and did a handstand on the railing. She was shaking as she lifted one hand and turned around, grabbed the rail again. She started slipping and dropped her legs and fell to the lab floor.

Everyone rushed to her side but she got up quickly with only a bit of a pained moan as she stretched.

"I guess I can do that." She said as she brushed herself off.

"You were always a good gymnast, before you went missing." Cameron said as he helped her stand. "I guess you kept it up."

"This thing, " she pulled at the suit, "made me think of doing that."

"Another memory. That's good." Cameron touched her face and regretted it instantly and pulled his hand away, turned around and headed to his station.

"This way." Kirsten led the way to the "fish tank" and helped Isabelle in. On of the techs helped hook Isabelle up as Kirsten walked over to her own tank and sunk into the water.

"Isabelle, we're going to start with you this way, fully conscious. If that doesn't work, we might just put you to sleep. But after that, it becomes messy and that's where I draw the line." Cameron said as he got himself ready for this experiment.

"Okay." Isabelle said simply.

"Linus, what is her exit pin code?" Cameron asked.

"First type Isabelle Starland, and then essiestar no caps or spaces." Linus said.

"What?" Isabelle sat up.

They explained to her about the keyboard and password to get out of a stich. They weren't sure how it was going to work, but they hoped that Isabelle will be experiencing the memories just like Kirsten.

"Now, close your eyes and relax." Cameron said after the brief explanation. Isabelle lifted her head once to stare at him confused but then relaxed and let it all happen.

She closed her eyes and the last image of the lab flashed and lingered as she drifted into darkness.

"So I've taken memory markers from the previous stitches and I'm going to search for them in Isabelle's brain before we send you in there." Linus said as if he was making sense.

"Do you know what that means?" Isabelle asked without opening her eyes.

"No idea." Kirsten said in the same relaxed state.

"It's a map and we…" Linus tried to explain.

"Whatever." Kirsten said as she settled in.

There were a few minutes of silence while Linus typed at an alarming speed.

"Got it." Linus turned his monitor and showed it to Cameron who nodded and went to his station.

"Okay. I want a go, no-go…" he started his whole ritual. This time it was mostly to give himself time to calm down. This was the scariest thing they have ever done.

Kirsten opened her eyes and blinked a few times. "This is weird." She stated.

"What's up?" Cameron asked.

"I don't know… I'm not sure." Kirsten cleared her head. "I'm not in anyone's memory. I'm in the middle of them all." Kirsten sat in the middle of the car. Isabelle was in the front seat.

"Isabelle, talk to me." Cameron said.

"I feel really uncomfortable." Isabelle said.

"I'm going to get you out." Cameron jumped at his first chance.

"No." Kirsten said quickly. "I would be uncomfortable too if my hands were tied behind a car seat." She looked down and saw that Isabelle's arms were wrapped behind her around the seat and tied together with ropes. "Just try to remember this, Isabelle."

"Zatk`nis!" Hathor said. Kirsten repeated it. "I think it means shut up."

"Eto piz`dets" Isabelle said out loud in the memory and in the lab. Gypsy scolded Isabelle for her language but before Kirsten could explain any of it, Isabelle started yelling things in fluent Russian.

Kirsten and Isabelle argued in Russian, reflecting the memory. The team stood in the lab, staring at the two, not understanding a word or knowing what was going on.

"Guys, talk to me." Cameron became anxious.

The memory took them to the road near the accident. They argued until Isabelle slipped her hands free of the ropes, unclipped Hathor's seatbelt and punched him hard. The car swiveled and someone screamed.


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

It went dark again. Kirsten shut her eyes and opened them as she usually did in a stitch. She wondered if this was any good.

"I'm not seeing anything." She said out loud. "Is this Limbo?"

The lab was quiet as everyone waited to see what was going on.

Light rushed over Kirsten and she blinked a few times to normalize. She was back in the car.

"No, this is a different car." Kirsten said out loud.

"Let me go!" a small sharp voice screamed. Kirsten saw young Isabel struggling in the back seat with Gypsy.

"I'm in an old memory. Isabel, can you see this?" Kirsten asked. "Isabel?"

"I have no idea where they are." Linus said with a hint of panic. "It's very emotionally charged, though."

"Isabel?" Cameron prompted. Silence.

"Essie?" Kirsten tried.

"This is weird." Isabel said in the lab. "I'm really in the car and in the lab?"

"You're okay." Cameron said more to himself with a sigh. "Yes." He answered her.

"I remember this. Sort of. I was screaming…"

"Let me go!" young Isabel yelled again and kicked with all her might. She disoriented Gypsy and managed to escape her grip; she opened the car door and ran out.

"We're running through the woods." Kirsten explained as she and young Isabel raced through the trees. "They're chasing her. She's fast."

"Is Isabel viewing the memory from an outside perspective like Kirsten or is she in the memory, as in her younger self?" Camille asked randomly.

In the memory, they kept running deeper and deeper into the woods. A shape came out of her peripheral vision and threw Isabel to the ground. There was some commotion with more kicking and complaining and just as Isabelle opened her mouth to scream a hand covered it and shut her up.

"Shhh…" A voice shushed her.

"It's a boy." Kirsten said.

"It's Tamas." Isabelle said in the lab.

"They will kill you." Kirsten repeated his words as he whispered them to Isabel.

"I remember his breath in my hair." Isabel explained. The image of him holding her from behind flashed and her heart rate picked up.

"I'm not going to hurt you. I won't let them hurt you." He whispered.

Isabel twitched in the tank as chills went down her spine.

"Please don't scream." He said and slowly dropped his hand. "Please."

"Let me go." Isabelle whispered. "I want to go home."

"There is no home." He said. "I am your new home."

"My mom and dad…" young Isabel started but he cut her off.

"Doesn't want you anymore."

"That's not true." Isabel said, trying not to cry. "I have friends and…"

"They don't want you either. If they did, they would have come for you by now."

"Cameroni…" Isabel started but was cut off by her tears. "They love me… They don't know where I am." She said through tears. In the lab, tears were running down Isabelle's cheeks as she repeated everything she said in the memory.

Cameron stopped breathing the minute she said his name. A surge of guilt washed over him, as he remembered the fight they had before she was kidnaped. This was getting intense and it was reflecting on her health monitors.

"I want you." The boy said. "I'll be your friend and your family."

"I want my mom!" She said louder and he put his hand over her mouth again.

"If my mom and dad hear you, they will kill you and replace you with another girl. They will take another girl from her family and you will be dead." Isabel moaned and crumbled, slacking into his arms. "I will take care of you. They will never hurt you. I promise."

With a jerk, both Isabel and Kirsten were propelled towards another memory. It was just a flash of Tamas standing up for Isabel when his father tried to hit her. And another flash of Tamas taking a hit for her. And a bit forward to few years later and they suddenly stopped jumping. Tamas was sitting on a bed, his arm was covered in blood and he was shaking. Isabel stood in front of him, a thin blood line on her cheek that was beginning to swell up.

"Oh my god." Kirsten exclaimed. "It looks like he got a lashing."

Isabel was saying her own words out loud and Kirsten repeated Tamas's words to that everyone in the lab could hear the conversation.

"You have to stop." Tamas begged as she started cleaning up his wounds.

"I'm sorry." She cried.

They were both teenagers at this point. Isabel had short hair that seemed to have been cut by a crazy barber.

"Katarzyna." He stopped her and held her face gently. "Why did you try to run away again?"

"I…" she choked. "I thought I recognized someone. I wasn't trying to run away. You didn't have to do this. You didn't have to take these lashes for me."

"I made a promise to you."

"He didn't have to hit me. I wasn't trying to run away."

"It looked like it." He let go of her face and looked down. "I thought…" he couldn't even finish his sentence. "Katarzyna, if you ever leave, I'm coming with you."

"You would leave Zeneatha and Hathor?"

"How the hell do you spell that?" Camille complained.

"We could live on our own." Thomas pulled her closer, a little excited about the idea. "We can take care of ourselves."

"Two teenage pickpockets, living on the street. That is the worst idea ever. I'd rather stay here." She said. "With you."

"For now." Isabel added in the lab. But she didn't say it in the memory which confused Kirsten.

"Who did you think you recognized?" Tamas asked.

Isabel jerked making the water swirl a bit.

"Who did I recognize?" she asked in the lab, almost freezing the memory at that moment. "Who did I recognize?" She repeated a little louder.

"Linus, see if you can rewind us back a few minutes?" Kirsten asked.

"You're getting fried." Cameron stated as he watched their health monitors. "You need to get out and take a break."

"Take us back. " Kirsten insisted.

"Fine." Cameron sighed, getting very anxious and angry. Linus slowly retraced the memory backwards. It appeared to them in short flashes. They walked into the mobile home. Tamas got lashed inside the big tent. Hathor whipped a lash at Isabel and Tamas stepped in just as the whip struck her face. She was pulled into the tent as she was running past it, knocking a blond wig off her head in the commotion. All the way back to her standing next to the house of mirrors.

"She stopped running. Stop here." Kirsten said quickly.

Isabel stood next to the exit of the house of mirrors. A group of teenagers walked through the exit and chattered about going home and watching a movie.

"Focus." Teen Isabel whispered to herself and started following the group. She walked up close to them just as a clown with arms full of teddies bumped into the group, dropping all his toys. Everyone apologized and tried to help him pick it all up. And by the time the clown offered them each a teddy, Isabel was past them, handing a few phones to a passerby and taking cash out of a wallet before dropping it behind a trashcan. She pocketed the money and looked at the group of teens, a smile spreading on her face.

She stopped breathing as she stared at them. And in the lab, the monitors started freaking out.

"What's going on?" Cameron asked. "You have to bounce, now."

"Is that Cameron?" Kirsten asked when she saw what Isabel was staring at.


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

In the lab, the health monitors blasted as Isabel stopped breathing. She stared at the teenage boy with the glasses and the messy hair and definitely Cameron's jaw. She watched as he picked a teddy from the clown and walked away with his friends, wrapping his arm around a girl's shoulders. Her memories jerked and she saw him as a kid, frowning and yelling at her about something. She jerked to the moment she first saw him at the hospital and then back to the carnival.

"You have to bounce!" Cameron said firmly and this time they listened. Kirsten typed her exit code and jumped out of the memory. Isabel took a bit longer to type but eventually she also got it all in and jerked back into the lab. Kirsten got out by herself and climbed closer to Isabel to check on her. Isabel was trying to catch her breath as she was having a mini panic attack.

"You were there." She said between breaths. "You were there." She repeated as she reached for Cameron. "I saw you."

Isabel's eyes rolled back and her eyes closed as she passed out, still in the tank.

Isabel woke up with a start. She was back in the safe house that Fisher had taken her to. She had been sleeping on her comforter and when she turned, Cameron was asleep on his side.

She stretched and yawned, feeling strangely stiff in places she didn't think could be stiff. She recalled her little acrobatic move and then the intense memory flashbacks. She dropped her head back to her pillow and turned to watch Cameron sleep. He opened one eye and looked at her. She smiled and giggled at the sight. He smiled, happy that he had made her giggle and opened both his eyes. He rubbed his face and also yawned.

"What time is it?" he asked no one in particular and checked his phone on the nightstand.

3am.

"Are you okay?" he asked as he returned to his pillow, facing her.

"I'm sore and tired. And weak. But okay." She crossed her arms, mimicking his posture.

"Do you remember anything new?"

"No. I can't get your face out of my head though." She reach closer and gently touched his features. He clenched his jaw, trying to keep his cool.

"Well, you are staring at it now, so that isn't helping." He said, trying to make a joke.

Cameron closed his eyes and felt her fingers trace down his nose and over his lips. Then her hand was gone and he suddenly felt her breath on his face as her lips touched his. His eyes flew open and he jerked back.

"What are you doing?" he asked and knew it was a stupid question. She moved closer and kissed him again.

"I don't know. I just want to." She whispered and deepened the kiss, pulling herself closer to him.

"Isabel." He whispered as she tried to turn him onto his back. "Wait."

"You don't like me?" she asked, strangely unoffended.

"What?" Cameron sat up and faced her. "I do like you. I just don't think this is the right thing."

"Why not?" she asked as she pulled on his shirt and kissed him again.

"You're vulnerable." He said between kisses. "And tired."

"I don't want to think right now." She tugged him closer.

"But tomorrow you'll…" he tried but gave in. He slipped his hands around her waist and pulled her onto his lap.

Isabel gasped and froze.

"What?" Cameron held his hands up and leaned away from her, "What did I do?"

"I just remembered something." She said.

"That's good. What?"

"I was in a house. It was big and beautiful and I wore a soft fluffy robe and had jewels and beautiful dresses."

"You remembered that from this moment?" Cameron moved away some more, trying to adjust his slight discomfort and also relieved that they didn't continue.

"Well yes." She said simply. "I was with Tamas. He was on the bed; we were both wrapped in the robes. But we weren't supposed to be there." She started thinking deep. "We were playing around the house while no one was around… We fooled around, ate the food, drank some wine and took some things with us when we left… I was a burglar."

"They made you that way. I don't think you have to feel guilty about it." Cameron tried to console her.

"I don't feel guilty."


End file.
